


A Thousand Words

by Strange and Intoxicating -rsa- (strangeandintoxicating)



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: I wrote something sad and hopeful, M/M, for 1000 fics on ao3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-07
Updated: 2017-11-07
Packaged: 2019-01-30 16:54:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12657591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strangeandintoxicating/pseuds/Strange%20and%20Intoxicating%20-rsa-
Summary: A thousand words would never be enough, and a thousand more would only be the beginning sentence of a love story.





	A Thousand Words

A thousand words would never be enough, and a thousand more would only be the beginning sentence of a love story.

Ignis could feel it in his bones as the dawn rose into the sky, and he knew that this was last. It was like a whisper of a kiss against his brow, then down across the scar over his eye. He could see the hint of the dawn in his sight, and Ignis found himself closing his eyes, taking in a soft breath.

"Can I kiss you?"

It was like a summer kiss, one that he had cherished since his youth. It was the kiss of a little boy who was promised to the stars. It was kiss of a teenager drunk on passion and hope. It was the kiss of a young man learning that the future was set before him and no, it wasn't fair. It was the kiss of a man drowning in his own tears but begging for one more, just one more. It was the kiss of farewells of a man off to meet his destiny.

Those kisses had kept Ignis through the darkness and allowed him to see the hope of the future, even when he could hear his heart breaking in his chest. His tears could dry as long as he knew that one day it would be their time, and he would feel that softness against his skin again.

"I've waited for far too long," Ignis whispered as he felt the warmth move down from his disfigured eye and caress his cheek. It was like a hand of something cradling his cheek, and Ignis leaned into it. He wasn't far enough gone to not understand what this was; his mind was as sharp as it had always been, even though his body had slowly given into the brittleness of age.

He had made a vow to Noctis, and it had been what seemed like a thousand years, but he knew it wasn't. It was a lifetime, yes. A lifetime spent more without him than with him, but Ignis knew that love could not be measured in days. It could not be measured is soft kisses and sweet morning whispers against shoulder blades. It couldn't be measured in words, because there were not enough words in any language to express love.

It had been hard to wait, but Ignis did it because he knew about the end, when the dawn dusted across the sky in that lovely shade of pink that reminded him of Noctis's flushed cheeks when he was roused from bed. The oranges and yellows like the way Noctis's skin looked under the morning light. And his eyes—that lovely shade of blue that cresting against the horizon just before the sun bled across the skies.

Ignis had forgotten many things—the way his own face looked, the way tarts crinkled on the surface when he took them from the oven, even what his other friends had looked like. He couldn't remember the beaches of Galdin Quay or the way the moonlight hit the Citadel at midnight. There was no point in remembering the color of Ebony was when he poured it into his glass, hot and thick like memories from so long before.

He remembered Noctis. He remember Noctis with a stunning clarity that made him wonder if it was real or if he had dreamed him up in his own mind.

Now that he could feel the sun against his skin, Ignis remembered and it was like breathing for the first time.

How could eyes be so clear? How could a smile make Ignis feel his heart clench in his chest as though its very existence was his heart?

There was a laugh, soft and so inviting, and Ignis closed his eyes. He could see Noctis's face as though he were right in front of him.

"Well, you know me. Never was really good with being on time."

Ignis allowed the air to exit him when he heard those words like a whisper against the shell of his ear. He shivered and leaned in further to the hand that yes—it was his hand against his cheek.

"But... I'm sorry for making you wait, Iggy. I promise I won't make you do it again."

"You should certainly see to it, then."

A shallower breath now, and there was a tightening in his chest. Just the slightest amount, but now he could feel fingertips on his lips.

"Can I kiss you?"

Ignis felt the hand tremble against his cheek, and he found himself slowly lifting his head into the warmth. He wanted to say something, to jest, to joke, but all he could do was lick his lip like a nervous schoolboy.

It was featherlight and it felt like everything that he had missed over the years. Every night, every morning, every dawn and every dusk. It was every breath and heartbeat, and it was like the skies themselves opened up and he could feel it all. Every promise, every confession, every tear, every whisper, every dream.

"Let me come with you?"

It was the same whispered words of their childhood, when Noctis had told him yes.

It was the same whispered words of their goodbye, when Noctis had told him no.

He understood, now. He understood what Noctis had wanted then, even though it had pained him. He wanted Ignis to live, to live even when he was missing part of himself.

"Open your eyes, Ignis."

When he did so, it was to the skies emblazoned with the dawn. The pinks against Noctis's nose, the yellows and oranges as the sun caressed his cheeks, the blue of the sky and his eyes—

Noctis was as beautiful now as he had always been, and it took Ignis's breath away.

"You haven't seen anything yet," Noctis promised as he laced his hands through Ignis's hair, pulling him closer.

A thousand words would never be enough. But it was the beginning.

Always.


End file.
